VE Equities sells out Carriage House in 7 weeks, secures Anthropologie as tenant for 250 Bowery

Following a successful sell out of 471 Washington Street in January, investment and development firm VE Equities has a contract out on the final unit at the former American Express Carriage House at 60 Collister Street, another Tribeca luxury condominium developed by the company, co-founder Zach Vella told The Real Deal today.

Fredrik Eklund, the Prudential Douglas Elliman broker heading up sales at the 15-unit project between Hubert and Laight streets with Elliman broker and group partner John Gomes, sent out the final contract today for penthouse 5A, a 4,078-square-foot, five-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom residence with approximately 4,162 square feet of outdoor space, Vella said. The deal is slated to close for “well north of $2,000 per square foot,” he noted, declining to identify the buyer.

Vella attributed the success of VE’s Tribeca projects — 471 Washingotn and 60 Collister Street, which is also known as 157 Hudson Street — to the strength of the Tribeca market, which is notoriously tight.

“Every single project we’ve done there has sold off plan or [very quickly,]” he said. VE also recently sold out a project at 1 North Moore Street at the corner of West Broadway.

The project at 60 Collister Street hit the market in two stages less than two months ago, Vella noted, after VE acquired the property in a short sale and received attorney general approval to market the units in early February. The apartments on the market ranged from $3.5 million for a 2,400-square-foot, two-bedroom unit, to $8 million for the final 4,000-square-foot penthouse.

Eklund commented: “It’s a double-corner historic building with amazing ceilings and arched windows — on a quiet cobble-stoned street in the best part of Tribeca. After all its turns over the last few years, the building has finally sold out in less than seven weeks, and the developer has done it justice.”

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Meanwhile, VE has secured a retail tenant for its planned 40,000-square-foot mixed-use building at 250 Bowery bordering Nolita, Vella said.

Women’s apparel and accessories store Anthropologie will take the retail space at the eight-story building, which is set to be topped off in a few weeks.

“They’re an incredibly strong retailer and a good fit for the building,” Vella said, saying the company didn’t want to go with a restaurant, which would have been typical on the Bowery.

The asking rents for the retail space were not immediately available.

Once completed, the building will feature 24 one-, two- and three-bedroom condominium units. As was previously reported, the four three-bedroom units will all be penthouse duplexes with private roof decks.

The building’s facade will feature dark gray metal cladding with large, open factory-style metal windows, according to its design by Morris Adjmi and Aldo Andreoli, the project’s architects. Construction began in June 2011 and is slated to be completed this summer.